I am SERIOUSLY considering that vanilla fudge! I don’t really need to make anything else, but I might make “real” chococlate fudge just to put into action the interesting things I’ve learned from your posts. And then the vanilla for color contrast…plus I’m going crazy thinking of how wonderful it sounds! I’d make the maple if I didn’t already have the brown sugar. Maple is one of my favorite flavors on the planet. Maple fudge with walnuts in it. I can see it now: Oh, this edge is crooked. I’d better trim (and eat) it. Now this edge is crooked… And this edge!!!

Thank you so much again!!

MJ—do try the fudge. It’s like a roller coaster, at least for me. You’re in fear the entire time that it’s not going to work, and then ... OMG! It does! And if, by chance, it doesn’t….you can melt it down again and try it over. Or make caramels. Luckily, I didn’t have to do any of the plan B’s. Plus, when it doesn’t work, it’s still yummy. I made caramel corn last year, and it totally crystallized, so it was grainy and dull instead of shiny, but man oh man, was it awesome. Everyone went crazy for it. It was eaten in almost record time. I called it “crusty corn.” So you can’t fail no matter how it turns out!

So, Liza’s fudges look awesome, and I’m seriously thinking of making the maple and the vanilla this year.

However, I have a few questions, if anyone has any thoughts:

Subbing milk + butter for heavy cream - this is the “real” question:

I have a lot of leftover milk in the freezer—can I substitute milk + butter for heavy cream? (This butter would be separate from the butter sometimes added after the fudge is cooked and cooling—I would still add that butter at that point in time.) I’ve seen fudge recipes that use milk rather than heavy, and others that use evaporated milk, so I’m thinking it’s possible.

For the vanilla (and other fudges that use sugar) I wonder if it works better, also, to simply melt the sugar (alone) to a liquid and then add warm cream to it, so you don’ thave to worry about crystals on the edges of the pan?

Stirring fudge without first cooling

I have seen several “real” fudge recipes where the fudge is cooked to soft ball, then stirred immediately. I find this very odd. What do you make of it?

I must add, however, that NO ONE, I repeat NO ONE, has mentioned if they think I can substitute 1/2 c. butter + 1/2 c. milk for 1 c. heavy cream in making fudge (then the “real” butter called for at the end by putting it on top of the cooling fudge). (My original question is two posts above for more detail.)

Please! Help! I have milk in my freezer I want to use up, and I won’t have to buy heavy cream if this will work!

Someone?

Anyone?????

I’m going to call Land o’ Lakes and see what they think, too. Will report back. [UPDATE: The consensus of the food scientists at Land O’Lakes is to not do the substitution, as heavy cream and milk+butter still have different chemical compositions, and they would worry that a substitution would keep it from setting up properly.]